Roost design

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

Aawww I just pictured how upset they must have been before coming to you. My boy Roo still has a hard lump in his foot but no blackened scab, and I've been treating it with topical antibacterial ointment that my amazing pharmacist gave me, he delivers our meds so he's met my chickens and is so chill with them and helps any way he can. His leg seems to be doing better slowly but I'm worried he has injured the leg higher like his hip or something. He is spoiled and stubborn (like his mom lmao!) I just want to get him healthy and happy again because when he's in pain he bites us. I know it's the pain because he doesn't normally but my 2 teenage daughters are not a fan of the chickens, especially the fact that he lives inside with us. Man, I could ramble about my Roo for days lol

soaking is the only thing that worked for me to get the hard plugs out, the antibiotic will help heal the squishy white threads or the puss though, it will help the plug harden. Keep trying and keep posting if it helps you get the stress out.

 

[RooRoosMama]

Thank you so much! I'll keep you posted

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

With my bantams I had poles for roosts. Up high there were 2x4s stored. They preferred the 2x4s.

Here in NM I have steel buildings.
The ducks have one and the chickens will have the other.
But then I am ordering a barnyard special so how do I know what I will get? It is off the ground ,heavy steel, and I will put peat moss on the floor . Build hardware cloth screen doors to go inside. It gets cold or cool here at night summer or winter. So I will need to shut the doors at night probably.
The ducks do not want their door shut.

birds like safety, the closed door protects from predators. They will like being locked in with their nice bedding and food.

 

[Iluveggers]

That's often recommended for people with especially large, heavy breeds -- Brahmas and Jersey Giants in particular.

IMO, it's more important to make sure that there is enough horizontal distance for them to fly up and down without crashing into anything. They fly at roughly a 45-degree angle.

When I had a Brahma, who was too heavy to fly, I gave her a ramp to get up and down to the nests and the perch.

I figure that if I give them flying space, a ramp, and plenty of bedding then I can safely accommodate my arthritis and cull any birds who aren't able to thrive in my management system.

I made my roost bars 18in high for this exact reason. Nest boxes are 12in so they don’t want to sleep in them. Short side of coop is 4ft high, and no higher spot to roost. I have a Brahma, large FBCM, Orpington, and am hopefully adding a Cochin & Bielefelder this year, so I much prefer a lower roost to keep their feet healthy.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

roost bars 18in high ... Nest boxes are 12in so they don’t want to sleep in them..., and no higher spot to roost.

gosh you are smart (and this, I am guessing, is not your first coop)

so no poo-on-top-treasure-hunting for you in the morning!

 

[Iluveggers]

gosh you are smart (and this, I am guessing, is not your first coop)

so no poo-on-top-treasure-hunting for you in the morning!

We have chickens at the family farm, along with many friends who have them, before we got our own. We got lucky to have a contractor friend come & help DH custom-build the one we keep in our yard now! The roost bars & nest boxes were placed there at my request. I’m sure a few of my laides would prefer a higher roost if given a choice, but one of our farm Wyandottes hurt herself jumping/getting knocked off the high roost, injured her foot, and never recovered even after we tried to help her. Although it’s a small chance, I prefer preventing anything I can control since there are so many things I can’t! Good luck!

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

one of our farm Wyandottes hurt herself jumping/getting knocked off the high roost, injured her foot, and never recovered even after we tried to help her.

Poor dear!

 

[3KillerBs]

What type of bedding? Do you have a pic of your interior? Something is very different if they never have mucky/pine shavings on their feet...

You can see a lot of my current coop in my hot climate article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

The deep litter is a mix of coarse wood chips, pine straw, occasionally straw, yard waste in season, and a bit of pine shaving that gets kicked out of the nest.

 

[Mother-Hen-Michele]

You can see a lot of my current coop in my hot climate article: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/hot-climate-chicken-housing-and-care.77263/

The deep litter is a mix of coarse wood chips, pine straw, occasionally straw, yard waste in season, and a bit of pine shaving that gets kicked out of the nest.

Great coop post! Love that little sliding door on a string!

I see why your feet are so much cleaner than mine: your air is dry! My area is much cooler and the air & ground is always damp, so your bedding is more absorbent (I suspect the poop is also less wet, but I don't want to imagine how we would go about comparing!) ...
Ok, now I am imagining.... Maybe pick it up with TP and see how many squares it will soak through?

Thanks though... I think I will add more peat moss to the floor bedding to see it that might dry out the foot-poo and keep cleaner feet.

 

[3KillerBs]

Great coop post! Love that little sliding door on a string!

I see why your feet are so much cleaner than mine: your air is dry! My area is much cooler and the air & ground is always damp, so your bedding is more absorbent (I suspect the poop is also less wet, but I don't want to imagine how we would go about comparing!) ...
Ok, now I am imagining.... Maybe pick it up with TP and see how many squares it will soak through?

Thanks though... I think I will add more peat moss to the floor bedding to see it that might dry out the foot-poo and keep cleaner feet.

I would not call my air dry -- we call this area "The Steamy Southeast" because it's not uncommon to have 95-95 days in the summer. That being, 95F with 95% humidity.

But I have exceptional airflow in all my coops and the sandy soil that's lousy for gardening (chicken compost to the rescue), is excellent for drainage in the coop so I don't get mud.